Exploring the Relationship between Global Studies and Ekistics

Abstract

The special issue of Ekistics and the New Habitat (2021, vol. 81 Issue No.3) was initially thought to be straightforward and timely. However, since the call for papers in 2019, the terms of the title 'The Global Pacific: Coastal and Human Habitats' have elicited a call for clarification. This article aims to respond by explaining what is understood by the term 'Global Pacific' as it is used in this special issue's title, and thus articulate the position with which the contributors to this issue are associated. To do so, the author discusses the features of transformative global studies, identifying a resistance among global studies scholars to providing any essential definition of their 'boundaryless' discipline. While this openness sits uncomfortably with the efforts of other global studies scholars to define global studies within institutional contexts, it is an ethical stance that enables global studies to constantly redefine themselves and their discipline in terms of their research practice. It is argued that this stance echoes what Michel Foucault described as an ethic of the care of the self, and what others have called subjectivation. Finally, the theory and practice of ekistics is introduced and compared with global studies in such a way as to situate the special issue in relation to these two disciplines. In this way, readers can appreciate how the special issue focuses on a certain 'Global Pacific', which is located in relation to both global studies approaches and ekistic methods.